A year ago, on the night of Friday July 15 to Saturday July 16, 2022, three young people aged 16, 18 and 20 were killed, on the esplanade Cœur de Maine, in the city center of Angers. This July 16, 2023, a stone bearing their names was unveiled at the scene of the tragedy.
A lot of emotion this Sunday morning during the ceremony which took place on the esplanade Cœur de Maine, in Angers. The same place where, exactly a year ago, three young boys fell under the stab wounds of their attacker.
The tragedy took place on the night of July 15 to 16, 2022. Shortly before 3 a.m., wanting to defend young women, three young people were targeted by a 32-year-old man who attacked them with a knife.
The three youngsters, aged 16, 18 and 20, died of their injuries. The suspect was arrested.
This July 16, 2023, there were people for this ceremony during which the mayor of Angers, Jean-Marc Verchère, unveiled a stone bearing the names of the three victims, on one of the steps of the esplanade.
The family, relatives, friends, members of SCO rugby, a club to which two of the victims had belonged, were gathered during this tribute which began with a minute of silence and then speeches by relatives.
The march engraved with the names of the three young victims on the esplanade of the Heart of Maine in Angers. • © France Televisions Laurence Couvrand
“You were my protector, always smiling, always there for us”, said a cousin of Atama, one of the three victims, tears in her voice. Very moved, the young woman had a hard time finishing her tribute.
“You were 16, you had the joy of living, you were sunny, generous, dreamy and non-violent,” evoked the grandmother of Ishmael, the youngest of the victims, recalling that he has four brothers and sisters.
And then it was Manuolito’s sister’s turn to say a poem in memory of her brother.
“Today has been a year, just like the first day, we miss you just as much” she said before Atama’s uncle took the floor to thank the city for agreeing to engrave the names of the three young people. “A gesture that will never forget Ishmael, Manuolito and Atama” he said.
►See the report by Laurence Couvrand, Ruohan Chen and Marie-Catherine Georgelin.
video duration: 00h01mn51s
A march engraved with the names of the three young victims on an esplanade in Angers • ©France Télévisions Laurence Couvrand, Ruhoan Chen and Marie-Catherine Georgelin.
“For the families, for the Angevins, marking this dramatic moment in 2022 in this location, it was a gesture that we could do, that we had to do” declares the mayor of Angers.
In tribute to the two former players, who have remained supporters of the club, SCO rugby has announced that it will do next season with a jersey in memory of Atama and Manolito.
The perpetrator, a Sudanese refugee, who was under the influence of alcohol at the time, was charged and imprisoned. Justice has yet to decide on his criminal responsibility.
Regarding the esplanade Cœur de Maine, it had remained surrounded by barriers and closed in the evening since the tragedy. Definitive, very thin gates should be installed next fall to allow the square to be closed at night.
Olivier Quentin with Laurence Couvrand.
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